At every job I’ve ever had, I’ve always answered the phone, ‘[company name], Tom speaking, how can I help?’
At all of those jobs, maybe once or twice a week, the caller will respond with ‘Hi Paul’.
Always Paul.
No one in any of the offices, in earshot, thinks it sounds like I’m saying Paul. I’ve made a recording of me answering the phone, at no point does it sound like I’m saying Paul.
Anyone else have this issue?
A lot of people call me George.
Yes. I often get the same wrong name said back to me "John Mc Something" rather than "Jeremy surname". In my case tho I can see where they are coming from sort of in that its the same number of syllables and the emphasis in the same place. The name I get called is a much more common one
People have stopped calling me Kevin on the phone. Not sure why. Kelvin must be a less unusual name these days.
My name's Ben. It seems remarkable how many times people hear 'Dan'.
Percy.
or Chris. I get Chris a lot.
Dickhead usually
Maybe they're not saying Paul, even though that's what you hear? Makes you think...
Or maybe they are saying 'Hello, pal'
They call me Hell
They call me Stacey
They call me her
They call me Jane
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
That's not my name
The name I get called is a much more common one
Must resist…
Has happened to me when I've just started a new role. Calls usually from a sales company go like that.
My guess is that it's because the phone number is linked to an out of date contacts database. So when the caller wants to ring your company, he just selects your company's name. On his screen then appears the name of the contact at your company, someone who used to be called Paul.
Caller doesn't actually listen to your answer and just uses the name on screen. Because he's been taught on a sales course to use the client's name to engender a sense of familiarity, loyalty and empathy...
I get called Tim occasionally.
Slightly more galling when it’s by people who have to type my actual name to invite me to the meeting we’re having.
My surname is Bower. It has forever been set up on email, work IDs, new starter into pieces etc as Bowers.
Drives me mad...
My name’s Ben. It seems remarkable how many times people hear ‘Dan’.
Same here. Even more so as my business partner is Dan. Chaos ensues.
I've a customer who called me Paul for the best part of 6yrs, even though I and my wife corrected him after about 2yrs I gave up. Not until recently (last 6months) did he find out my real name.
I think Paul is just a default name for some people.
I used to get called Alan by one contact in an old job. My name is Adam. I never corrected him though, figured it could be to my benefit if he didn't like how I was doing things!
If people get my name wrong, they will always call me either Simon or Adrian.
My landlord at uni called me Steven for two years. After the first three or four times of saying "it's Simon", I gave up.
Teh telemarketers/scammers used to call me Mr Boyle.
Mr Boyle was the guy who previously owned the house and as far as im aware is dead.
Even saying sorry, he's dead doesnt seem to deter them from ringing back
Where I work, if they done know your name, you get called Jim.
when I was travelling through central America I would always get call Kebin, as they pronounce Vs as bs. Always made me chuckle tbh!
My surname is one letter out from a much more common word (although one that's far less commonly used as a surname). Sometimes someone will type in the common word in one system and it can cause no end of trouble. I started at one company and the on-boarding request to set me up on the many various IT systems went through a number of people, one of whom typed in my name wrong. The name formed part of the email, and that was a primary identifier. It' really really ballsed things up for about six months!
all the time, even people i know very well still do this, they then realise 5 mins into a conversation and apologise!
My names David, i get Richard (which i can understand becuase of surname - dont care about persec) but the odd one is Steven - not even remotely in my name anywhere..
of course all of us that get called the worng name could simply be down to the fact we are so insignificant and unliked that the caller cant be bothered..... <shrugs>
They call me Hell
They call me Stacey
They call me her
They call me Jane
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
@tjagain you just ruined my shitposting! Too slow...
My surname gets a lot of weird and wonderful readbacks, what annoys me is when people correct the spelling I produce.
When I was a kid, my dad used to call people Mac or Jim.
E.g. in a busy car park "are there any spaces over that side Jim?"
Mind you this is the same fella who in response to a hotel waitress asking at breakfast:
"would you like grapefruit, cornflakes, Shreddies or muesli?"
Said "I'll just have some Kellogg's please love."
While on holiday for two weeks I once pretended my name was Paul.
My brother and sister asked "Why are those kids calling you Paul?" .
When I told them ,they played along with it,just not in front of our parents. 🙂
My first, middle and last names are all common first names so they all get used a lot of the time. If you add a 'S' to the end of my middle and last names they're also very common surnames. Any time I call a company or business they can use any combination at any time. Because of an error by the Halifax years ago I actually have a credit history in my name but listed as my surname, my first name then my middle name but with an S on the end.
Thankfully I find it all mildly amusing!
I used to work with a Mhairi.
"Can I speak to, um, Barry?"
I'm also aware of people who deliberately and repeatedly use incorrect names of those who have annoyed them.
Just saying...
LOL at Monketboy - this reminds me of the rather embarraassing time my neighbour corrected me -
i Get on quite well with one of my neighbours since i moved i moved in 5 years ago- he raced lawn mowers - brilliant. Somehow i'd got into my head his name was Joe, so this is what i called him everytime i spoke to him and borrowed the odd tool (he is a mechanic), and also christmas cards (clearly the xmas card we couldn't place hwo it was from was a slight lightbulb moment) to him and the missus. Until about 3 years after - he just as a passing comment said "you do know my names Pete"... i laughed, he laughed, i felt very awkward and blamed the fact my other neighbour was also called pete..
Some people call me the gangster of love.
In our office we all pick up the general phone number if it rings. Whenever one of the young guys in my office picks up the phone people always call him by my name, it doesn't happen with anyone else. I'm not sure if I sound like a 20 year old man or he sounds like a middle aged woman.
When I was a kid, my dad used to call people Mac or Jim.
Scottish?
I know Mac is a thing albeit not one you really hear. "Haw Jimmy" definitely is.
I am so pleased that you posted this, my name is also Tom and on the phone people always think I am called Paul! I don't know why but I am glad it's not just me.
My name is Paul, and I am occasionally (and mistakenly) called Phil.
I used to work with a Mhairi.
“Can I speak to, um, Barry?”
Just googled this and opened a can of worms to go with my lunch. Apparently Gaelic has different pronunciations for the different cases (nominative, dative etc like in German). So if you were speaking Gaelic it might be an M sound or a V sound, but I suppose that doesn't apply if you're speaking English? Or does it? Fascinating.
Anyway, as you were.
My name is Paul, and I am occasionally (and mistakenly) called Phil.
That you don’t get called Tom further adds to the mystery, TBH.
I have a pretty heavy Brummie accent despite living over half my life in Devon.
When asked for my name, I used to Answer 'I'm Iain'
To which I'd usually get the response -'Hi Oimian, could you help me with..............' 🙂
Now I just say 'Iain speaking' when I answer.
Just googled this and opened a can of worms to go with my lunch. Apparently Gaelic has different pronunciations for the different cases (nominative, dative etc like in German). So if you were speaking Gaelic it might be an M sound or a V sound, but I suppose that doesn’t apply if you’re speaking English? Or does it? Fascinating.
No idea about cases but Mhairi is pronounced as Vari (like Barry).
I am so pleased that you posted this, my name is also Tom and on the phone people always think I am called Paul! I don’t know why but I am glad it’s not just me.
Of all the posts on STW over the 10 years I’ve been here, none have made my day more than this one.
Also glad it’s not just me!
Cheers Paul.
I’ve no idea why but finding out that Moly’s real name is Ben has been a shattering experience for me. Please, no more breaking through the 4th wall for the rest of the day!
Tim (sometimes called Tom)
Matt = Mark apparently.
Even when they have an email from me, with my name as signature.
I don't mind people mishearing my name, but getting it wrong when you've got it written in my email signature is just wrong.
My daughters name is Sian. Think it took at least two birthdays before MiL stopped sending cards to Sean.
I have friends who call everyone Pal. Even people they’ve known for 25yrs+
My SIL has been calling me Don for nearly 30 years. We’ve given up correcting her now, but even when I did the response was “Oh, he/you doesn’t mind”
Infuriating.
